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The kittens immediately descended on him, Lizzie batting at his tail and the two boys scrambling over his back.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Casey said as he skritched Randolph Scott’s ears. “Do you think he could be their father? He’s awfully good with them.”
“Nah.” Ty mimed a snip. “His fathering days are long gone, plus these babies didn’t come from around Home. I’d have known.”
Casey grinned at him. “What, are you an animal psychic, too? Tuning in with your crystal ball?”
“Nothing so unreliable.” He winked. “My high school volunteers. Nothing gets past them, and none of them heard anything about a pregnant female. She might have been feral, but if so, how’d that asshole get ahold of her and her kittens?”
“Well, I appreciate the time with them.” Casey’s expression turned wistful. “If I weren’t heading back to a teensy Manhattan apartment in September, I’d be tempted to adopt one of them myself.”
Ty made an odd noise, something like Mmmphmmm, which Casey had discovered was the universal Home response when any of the residents wanted to avoid verbalizing their reaction.
Casey narrowed his eyes. “All right, Ty. I’ve heard that same response from almost everyone in Home at some point.”
“Have you?” Ty asked blandly.
“I have. It’s like the town’s verbal version of a sonic screwdriver. You use it for everything from yes to no to you’re a freaking idiot.”
“Mmmphmmm.”
“Seriously?” Casey threw up his hands. “What’s that supposed to mean?
“Nothing.” Ty turned and sauntered out of the cat room.
“Ty!” Casey followed him into the hall. “I mean it.”
Ty pushed the door nearly closed, but left it ajar, presumably so Randolph Scott could escape. “Seen my cousin lately?”
“Nice segue.” Casey crossed his arms and fixed Ty with a glare in the brightly lit hallway. “But since you ask, no, I haven’t, because the big dope has been avoiding me.” He pointed at Ty’s nose. “And don’t say he hasn’t been.”
“Okay. I won’t. Although if you wanted to give me a clue as to why…” Ty’s voice rose in hopeful invitation on the last word.
From the way Casey’s cheeks heated, his face probably looked like somebody had flung a handful of cherry jujubes on a snowbank. “There may have been an… incident.”
Ty grinned, his eyes sparkling. “Really? An incident? Above the neck? Below the belt? Please tell me it was below the belt.”
“Seriously?” Casey shook his head, his blush burning hotter. “I say incident and you immediately jump to sex?”
Ty scrunched his face. “Sorry. Call it wishful thinking. Dev hasn’t really had any action since he broke up with his boyfriend and left the band to come back to Home.”
“Wait.” Casey fell into step beside Ty as they headed toward the shelter lobby. “Band? Dev’s a musician?”
“He was. A damn good one. Songwriter too, but he hasn’t picked up his guitar since… well, since.”
Casey stopped in front of the plate-glass window with its view onto the road past the blocky Harrison Veterinary Clinic lettering. “Guitar? I had my bedroom window open last night and I’m pretty sure I heard somebody playing. It was faint, and I couldn’t tell what direction it was coming from, but I’m sure it was a single acoustic guitar.”
The look that flickered across Ty’s face combined disbelief with a hope so desperate it pinched Casey’s heart.
“Could you identify the song?”
Casey shook his head. “No. It wasn’t familiar. But it also wasn’t complete, you know? Just bits that broke off and then repeated, or stopped in the middle and jumped to another phrase. That’s why I figured it was somebody playing guitar and not just someone who needed to turn their stereo down.”
“Holy shit,” Ty breathed.
Then he whooped and grabbed Casey around the waist, dancing across the lobby with him, much to the amusement of Val and Kenny, who’d emerged from an exam room with two mid-sized dogs of indeterminate breed.
Pain lanced through Casey’s instep and he stumbled. “Ow!”
